Heston Blumenthal, the Michelin-starred chef, has split from his wife and is
now dating a glamourous American cookery book author.

The Blumenthals appeared to have all the key ingredients for the perfect marriage.

They met when they were young and built a successful business together.

She described him as her soul mate and he described her as the reason for his success

But after 20 years of marriage, Heston Blumenthal has left his wife and is now reported to be dating Suzanne Pirret, an American cookery book author, who says her favourite things are “food and sex”.

The chef, who has three Michelin stars, has three teenage children with Zanna, and had previously paid tribute to for the sacrifices she made while he worked on building his multi-million pound restaurant business.

But, having survived the arduous commitment of turning the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, into one of the world’s leading restaurants, they last night admitted that the stress had taken its toll on their relationship.

The chef, 45, has moved out of the family home in Buckinghamshire and is now dating Miss Pirret, 45, who is America’s equivalent of Nigella Lawson having been described as a “goddess” for writing The Pleasure Is All Mine: Selfish Food for Modern Life.

She has previously worked as a pastry chef at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen, and has made no secret of her interests in life.

“Food and sex. Two of my favourite things, and the most powerful of all human drives,” she has said.

“Best one after the other in either order, I’m not picky.”

It is understood that the Blumenthals’ marriage had been under strain for several months and that the chef’s wife was aware of his relationship with Miss Pirret.

“Over the course of their marriage, they have built an extremely successful business, but one which has unfortunately taken its toll on their relationship,” a spokesman for the couple said last night.

“They remain good friends and devoted parents of their three children who are their main focus.”

They met as teenagers when Zanna, whose real name is Susanna, was working as a nurse and Heston was a credit controller.

“It sounds corny, but I knew from the outset that I’d found my soul mate,” Mrs Blumenthal, 47, said in a magazine interview four years ago.

“There was a deep connection between us and even though we were just teenagers, we knew we had found something special.

“We had very little money, but for my birthday, he took me for dinner at the best restaurant in London at the time, La Tante Claire.

“It was the first time I’d experienced fine dining and it blew me away, so food became our shared passion.”

“Zanna is the reason for my success because she has supported me every step of the way,’ he said in the same interview.

“She’s sacrificed so much and has never complained.”

Having scraped enough money to buy the 450-year-old Fat Duck in 1995, they turned it into a three-Michelin-starred restaurant.

Since then they expanded the empire to include Dinner, a critically acclaimed restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, west London.

Blumenthal has a £1 million deal with Channel Four and stars in adverts for a supermarket chain.

He now joins the ranks of high-profile chefs who have experienced marital difficulties.

All four of the late Keith Floyd’s marriages ended in divorce, and Marco Pierre White, has been married three times, only recently reconciled with his current wife after abandoning divorce proceedings.

Rick Stein, 64, was married for more than 30 years, but separated in 2002 after his wife, Jill, discovered he was having an affair with a woman 20 years his junior.

Tom Aikens, another acclaimed chef, whose first marriage broke down after seven years, separated from his second wife, Miranda Quarry, last year.